BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has departed for Dhaka on Monday at 4:10 PM local time (9:10 PM Bangladesh time), after nearly four months in London for advanced medical treatment. She is traveling on an air ambulance provided by the Emir of Qatar and is scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 10:30 AM Bangladesh time on Tuesday.
Despite tight security at Heathrow Airport and prior knowledge that they wouldn’t be able to see her, BNP leaders and activists from across the UK and various European countries gathered from the morning to bid farewell to their leader. Braving the bank holiday and adverse weather conditions, supporters came together to express their support.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has urged party members to maintain order during her arrival. Noting that the SSC exams are ongoing, he requested that no one stand on the roads from the airport to her residence in Gulshan. Instead, he instructed supporters to remain on the sidewalks with national and party flags to greet Khaleda Zia respectfully.
Security measures have already been heightened at her Gulshan residence ‘Firoza’ on Road 80, with law enforcement and her personal security force taking shifts for surveillance.
Khaleda Zia is accompanied by her two daughters-in-law, Zubaida Rahman and Syeda Sharmila Rahman, on her journey from London. A scheduled stopover is planned in Doha, where the air ambulance will land at Hamad International Airport at 2:30 AM local time. Her elder son and BNP’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, personally drove her to Heathrow Airport.